


The Ebb and Flow

by RemainingQuestions



Category: Hermitcraft RPF
Genre: Gen, Platonic Cuddling, im...still really proud of it, somewhat poetic lol, this may have legit been the first vex related writing ive ever done
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:47:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22566529
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RemainingQuestions/pseuds/RemainingQuestions
Summary: Nothing is taken without a gift.Nothing is given without a price.Breathe in. Breathe out.Put on your mask.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 62





	The Ebb and Flow

It starts like this. 

Hard work, and lots of cake. 

Breath fogging against a delicate porcelain mask. 

The thrill of power. 

Is the high worth the low?

It starts like this. 

Tired muscles and an aching stomach. 

Eyes blinking, finally unmasked. 

Exhaustion deeper than bone-deep. 

All things have a cost. 

The machinery clicks, perfectly, delicately, in grand factories. 

The living area is less perfect, less delicate.

The living area, as it is, is just two beds in the storage room. 

The chests here aren’t filled automatically like the ones in the grand factory, and the brick walls keep some of the noise out. 

It starts like this. 

The night has fallen, and the construction is complete. 

Complete for now.

The masks lay dormant. 

Dormant for now. 

Scar lays asleep in a bed across from Cub, hat hanging on the side of the bed. 

Cub lays awake, the clicking of redstone around them keeping him that way. His muscles ache with labor half forgotten, and his mind gently throbs. These aches are long familiar now, though. 

He turns and twists, and tries not to watch the clock on the wall slowly sliding towards day. 

Eventually, he falls asleep. 

He must have, since he wakes up again. 

The masks call again.

They always do. 

It’s a prank this time. 

Eventually, the masks are satisfied.

The light from the sun burns his eyes as he takes it off. 

Does he take it off, or does it let go of him?

The sun is bright. 

The exhaustion is bone-deep; it always is. 

But the sun is high and bright. 

Scar returns to his archipelago, and Cub to his factory. 

Maintenance is easy to do, even in his exhausted state.

The redstone clicks, perfectly in tune. 

The stockpile of their items grows, farms churning out as predicted.

Eventually, the sun sets. 

The gentle twilight is soft on his face, which had been masked so long. 

His bed is cold, but soft too. 

He falls asleep quickly, exhaustion pulling him deeply under. 

He wakes up quickly too.

Whirling colors and the pull of the mask slide before his eyes as he blinks. 

The ground is cold as he stumbles out of bed. 

The clock on the wall tells the midnight hour. 

His bones ache with exhaustion, but his soul thrums with fear. 

He steps outside, the cold air a soft shock to his system. 

But he blinks and sees the horrors of his sleeping mind replayed. 

He shivers, unrelated to the cool air. 

The options are slim. Get back into bed, back to the haunting nightmares. Stay out of bed, but what could he do? 

The redstone ticks in the background, the soft thrum of productivity. It does nothing to calm him. 

He walks around the well lit area, but the cold does nothing to throw the horrors from his mind. 

When he comes back in, the long walk is shown as only a few minutes by the treacherous clock on the wall. 

He dons his elytra and grabs fireworks.

The volcano rises into view quickly, and Cub slows down as he nears it. 

Just checking. He wouldn’t want to wake Scar, if he could actually sleep. 

He lands on the side, coarse dirt crunching under his shoes. 

The way inside is easy. The trees and rocks groan in the soft winds, and Cub doesn’t try to sneak. The nature here will hide simple footsteps. 

“Cub?” The voice is tired, but not sleepy. 

“Yeah Scar…” It was nearly immediately easier, now he wasn’t alone in his sleeplessness. “Nightmare.” 

As Cub comes closer, it’s clear that Scar is sitting on his bed, wearing his pyjama’s. “I just… my mind wouldn’t stop, you know? Like after it was quiet, with the heads, for so long, now it just… can’t stop.” 

He sits down next to him, the bed warm, the covers tousled. “Yeah, I get that too, sometimes, after.” There’s no need to say after what, not between them. 

The tired quiet is comfortable, between them, for a while. 

“Wanna go play cards for a bit?” 

Cub smiles, softly. The nightmares still linger on his eyelids. “Yeah okay.” 

Eventually the sun rises. They’re both exhausted still. But the masks stay quiet, for now. 

The next night will be easier. 

It continues like this. 

The masks call. 

They heed it. 

The work will be done. 

How much can they do, like this?

It continues like this. 

The masks come off again. 

The exhaustion goes beyond any normal exhaustion. 

They don’t spend the following night alone. 

How much will it take, from them?

Cub is the one whose brain can’t sleep, this time. 

He watches, from across the room, as Scar sleeps while he can’t. 

It was never said, some things didn’t need words, but the night after they took the masks off was one they’d spend together. 

He watches, because otherwise he watches the wretched clock. Jealousy is easily overpowered by empathy.

At least one of them is getting some good rest. 

But he watches, and sees Scar’s face turn from peaceful to not. Sees his fingers tighten. Hears the scared whine. 

Of course he stands up. Of course he crosses the room. Of course he wakes Scar up. 

There are tears in his eyes.

“Scar?” His whisper is loud in the quiet of the night. 

Scar blinks, tears falling. “Cub… Cub you were  _ dead _ .” The hand on Cub’s arm clenches down. 

Cub reaches down, holds tightly to Scar’s hand. “Just a nightmare Scar, just a nightmare.” 

Scar’s tears still flow down. “It seemed so real.” 

He nods, familiar with the feeling. “I know.” 

“It seemed so real, Cub.” Only a breathy whisper, as if Scar’s afraid of the answer. 

“It wasn’t.” His voice is soft, too. “It was only a nightmare.” 

“Cub…” 

“I’m here Scar. I’m here.” 

They sit, tired silence familiar to them both. But the silence wears thin. Cub’s head starts bobbing, but it’s not until he nearly slides down that Scar clenches his arm again. 

“Cub, you need to sleep.” His voice is soft but cracked from the earlier tears. 

Cub shakes his head, “but you, and nightmares?” 

“I’ll be okay.” He acts certain, but the wet crack is still there. “Go sleep Cub, it was only a nightmare.” 

Cub stands up, and Scar’s fingers trail, like the lack of a connection causes him physical pain. It was only a nightmare, but Cub knows these nightmares. Knows how real they are, how long they stick around on the back of your eyelids. But he’s so tired. 

Maybe he stands still for too long, or his doubt shows in another way, but Scar urges him on. “Go sleep Cub, I’ll be fine, like always.” 

Maybe it’s the always that breaks him. Cub moves to his bed, and picks it up. 

“What?” Scar was watching, at least a visual reminder of reality, even if that seems like a lie whenever you close your eyes. 

Cub would do the same. He moves back to Scar, and places his bed next to Scar’s. “Come on, let’s sleep.” The blankets are still warm when he crawls underneath them. 

It was awkward, to turn to his side and see Scar, for a moment. But it’s Scar. They share a look, and more tears fall as Scar blinks. 

Cub reaches for his hand, just like he had before. He blinks, and struggles to open his eyes again. “Let’s sleep.” 

Cub falls asleep easily, even though this is unfamiliar to him. 

When he wakes up, he’s still tired. The masks always ask just a bit more of them. 

But when he wakes up, Scar is asleep. 

He soon wakes up, too, of course. But his eyes aren’t wet, this time. 

It continues like this. 

They put on delicate masks. 

Moving mountains is only the start. 

Endless supplies of cake. 

How much more will they be called on?

It continues like this. 

They are spent beyond what they have. 

The return always hits hard. 

They are not alone. 

They can bear it all, together. 


End file.
